Creative freelancers—like copywriters and graphic designers—who work with clients on their marketing collateral (e.g. brochures, websites, etc), often get asked if they do work in other related areas, such as website development, social media and SEO.
At this point, they normally have…
3 choices:
- simply let clients go to another agency or freelancer (who will enjoy all the profits and long-term business),
- try to learn new skills (which can result in a lot of headaches and often poorly executed work in the short-term; leaving clients dissatisfied), or
- hire staff (which is a different kind of headache—on so many levels!—plus a huge financial risk).
But let me tell you a short story about how one creative freelancer took a different path and is keeping her clients VERY happy (and making more money than ever without doing any extra work)…
A different path
Ellen is a carefree, creative copywriter who loves long breakfasts, daily coffee breaks at her local cafe down the road, and hanging out with friends whenever she wants.
She has been freelancing for a few years now and most of her clients are small businesses who need great content for their website or blog. Of course, people who are dissatisfied with the content on their website are, invariably, ALSO dissatisfied with the way their website looks and the amount of traffic it gets, so she has received a LOT of queries about improving these other elements too.
After all this time, she was tired of saying “sorry, I can’t help you with that” and watching money walk out the door (figuratively speaking—her business is actually 100% online, with just the occasional phone call—after all, she can’t have her “latté lifestyle” if she has to hang around in a boring office waiting for clients to drop by!).
So one day, frustrated with small jobs, short-term clients and limited income, she stopped saying “no” and started saying this simple phrase that turned everything around…
“Yes, my team can help you with that.”
…But hang on, WHAT team??
At first Ellen tried learning new skills and, after trudging through an endless stream of semi-helpful (but mostly confusing) “how-tos” on the internet, she picked up a few things that enabled her to get through some of the simpler jobs and pick up a few extra bucks without too many major catastrophes. But it became clear that there was a lot MORE to learn, and it just wasn’t “her thing” to do all that techie stuff—she really just loved to write, and that’s all she wanted to do.
So she approached me, explained her situation and we came up with something awesome…
The new plan
I agreed to lower our rates in exchange for the potential flow of ongoing work—kind of like a “wholesale” rate I guess—and she agreed to handle the clients. She charges the work out at my full rate and takes home the difference. It’s an awesome symbiotic relationship without any downside… Red Sky is her team and she is our salesperson (earning great commissions!).
Mind you, she doesn’t really have to “sell” anything—her clients already know, like and trust her, so once she tells them her team can definitely help, then the deal is done!
And, most importantly, because she’s a talented copywriter and Red Sky is a team of talented digital marketing specialists, her clients are incredibly happy—she gives them everything they want: great copywriting, great websites, great social media and effective SEO.
It’s a win-win-win.
Disclaimer!
Of course we can’t guarantee that you’ll double your income immediately like Ellen did (some freelancers only get asked about other services occasionally), but if you’re a carefree creative like her and you’d like to have your own secret “team” for when a client does ask those sticky questions, take a look at Red Sky’s White-Label Services and drop us a line today—we’d love to hear from you and answer any questions you might have.